A think-tank report contained a series of contributions on the future policy of the Labour party on crime and justice. It looked at how the justice system could be made to work more effectively to cut crime, improve the experience of victims and witnesses, and punish and reform offenders.
Source: Sadiq Khan MP (ed.), Punishment and Reform: How our justice system can help cut crime, Fabian Society
Date: 2011-Dec
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill was given a third reading. The Bill (mainly relating to England and Wales) was designed to cut access to legal aid, introduce tougher punishment for certain crimes (such as knife crime), promote a 'rehabilitation revolution' to prevent offenders committing further crime, and ensure that the sentencing framework was 'sensible and workable'.
Source: Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, Ministry of Justice, TSO | Debate 2 November 2011, columns 951-1056, House of Commons Hansard, TSO
Links: Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2011-Nov
A new book examined the theoretical foundations of criminal justice in the modern era. It considered legal philosophy and ethics; explanations of criminal behaviour; and policing, the court process, and penology in the context of contemporary socio-economic debates.
Source: Roger Hopkins Burke, Criminal Justice Theory: An Introduction, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Nov
A new book put forward a framework for criminal justice reform. There was a need to acknowledge the limitations on what governments could achieve on their own. The focus should be on promoting procedural justice and legitimacy; fostering human decency and civility; and enabling prevention, restoration, and desistance from crime.
Source: David Faulkner and Ros Burnett, Where Next for Criminal Justice?, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Oct
The Ministry of Justice published its annual report for 2010-11.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11, HC 986, Ministry of Justice, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Sep
A report set out a strategy for strengthening the crime policies of European Union member states – based on building public trust in justice, public belief in the legitimacy of justice institutions, and public commitment to the rule of law.
Source: Mike Hough and Mai Sato (eds.), Trust in Justice: Why it is important for criminal policy, and how it can be measured – Final report of the Euro-Justis project, European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Sep
The European Commission published a set of criteria and common principles designed to support European Union-wide measures against crime. It said that: the criminal law should remain a measure of last resort; sanctions should be limited to particularly serious offences; new criminal law measures should respect fundamental rights; and decisions on criminal law measures or sanctions should be backed up by clear factual evidence, be proportionate to the crime, and be taken at the appropriate level.
Source: Towards an EU Criminal Policy: Ensuring the effective implementation of EU policies through criminal law, European Commission
Links: Strategy | European Commission press release
Date: 2011-Sep
A new book examined mechanisms that seemed to allow room for less punitive (political) choices within European criminal justice systems – social policies, human rights, and a balanced approach to victim rights and public opinion in constitutional democracies.
Source: Sonja Snacken and Els Dumortier (eds.), Resisting Punitiveness in Europe? Welfare, human rights and democracy, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Sep
A new book examined the nature, significance, and ethical limits of criminalization.
Source: Andrew Simester and Andrew von Hirsch, Crimes, Harms, and Wrongs: On the principles of criminalisation, Hart Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Jul
The Home Office published its annual report for 2010-11.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11, HC 985, Home Office, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jul
A new book examined problems in modern criminal law theory, including the justification for punishment, the nature of criminal responsibility, and the proper limits of criminalization.
Source: Rowan Cruft, Matthew Kramer, and Mark Reiff (eds.), Crime, Punishment, and Responsibility: The Jurisprudence of Antony Duff, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Jul
A report examined the role of social sciences research in making criminal justice policy.
Source: Making the Case for the Social Sciences No. 4: Crime, Academy of Social Sciences
Links: Report | ASS press release
Date: 2011-Jun
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill was published, and given a second reading. The Bill (mainly relating to England and Wales) was designed to cut access to legal aid, introduce tougher punishment for certain crimes (such as knife crime), promote a 'rehabilitation revolution' to prevent offenders committing further crime, and ensure that the sentencing framework was 'sensible and workable'. Plans to give prisoners who pleaded guilty at the earliest stage a reduction of up to 50 per cent on their sentences were dropped. The coalition government simultaneously published its response to:
• A report by a committee of MPs on legal aid reform.
• A consultation on legal aid reform.
• A consultation (Green Paper) on reforming the criminal justice system.
Source: Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, Ministry of Justice, TSO | Government Response to Justice Committee s Third Report of Session 2010/11: The Government s Proposed Reform of Legal Aid, Cm 8111, Ministry of Justice, TSO | Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales: The Government Response, Cm 8072, Ministry of Justice, TSO | Breaking the Cycle: Government Response, Cm 8070, Ministry of Justice, TSO
Links: Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard (1) | Hansard (2) | Downing Street press release | MOJ press release | Response to MPs | Response to legal aid consultation | Response to criminal justice consultation | HOC research brief | Bar Council press release | Citizens Advice press release | ILPA briefing | JUSTICE press release | Justice for All press release | Labour Party press release | LAG press release | LCF press release | Liberty press release | NFM press release | Resolution press release | Scope press release | SCYJ briefing | Shelter press release | SOFJ press release | Unite press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Law Gazette report | Telegraph report
Notes: MPs Report (March 2011) | Consultation document (legal aid) (November 2010) | Consultation document (criminal justice) (December 2010)
Date: 2011-Jun
A new book examined how the 'news' agenda for crime and punishment was constructed.
Source: David Wilson, Looking for Laura: Public criminology and hot news, Waterside Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-May
A new book examined the role of emotion in crime and justice policy. The return of emotions to debates about crime and criminal justice had been a striking recent development – exemplified by the return of shame to justice procedures, a heightened focus on victims and their emotional needs, fear of crime as a major preoccupation of citizens and politicians, and highly emotionalized public discourses on crime and justice.
Source: Susanne Karstedt, Ian Loader, and Heather Strang (eds.), Emotions, Crime and Justice, Hart Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-May
The Ministry of Justice published a revised business plan, covering the period 2011-2015.
Source: Business Plan 2011-2015, Ministry of Justice
Date: 2011-May
The Home Office published a revised business plan, covering the period 2011-2015.
Source: Business Plan 2011-2015, Home Office
Date: 2011-May
A new textbook provided an introduction to research methods in the field of crime and justice and related areas, including police, prisons, and criminal justice policy-making.
Source: Louise Westmarland, Researching Crime and Justice: Tales from the field, Willan Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Apr
A report set out the findings of a seminar on restorative justice (held in November 2010). It said that the academic and research agenda on restorative justice was too narrow. There was a tendency to focus on matters of immediate policy and practical relevance and, as a result, the political and cultural character of restorative justice was put second. At the same time, a more thorough cost-benefit analysis for restorative justice was needed if it were to be seen as a more cost-effective approach to crime than imprisonment and penal punishment.
Source: Theo Gavrielides, Drawing Together Research, Policy and Practice for Restorative Justice, Independent Academic Research Studies
Links: Report | IARS press release
Date: 2011-Mar
The government-appointed 'champion' for safer communities called for a change of culture so that neighbourhoods no longer saw crime and anti-social behaviour as 'someone else's problem'. She said that the public sector's target culture had made it unresponsive to the problems of local communities. Her recommendations included allowing communities to keep the proceeds of official sales of the assets of drug dealers convicted in their area, and earmarking 1 per cent of police resources to be spent in line with community wishes.
Source: Helen Newlove, Our Vision for Safe and Active Communities, Home Office
Links: Report | Home Office press release | ACPO press release | BBC report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Mar
A paper said that the existing criminal justice system was failing communities by drawing resources into damaging and inefficient systems rather than enabling communities, families, and individuals to become safer and stronger. It proposed a range of strategies for reversing this pattern, including: a greater focus on the role of women, children, and families; and a new financial system giving local areas an incentive to invest in their own communities.
Source: Clare Hyde, Local Justice: Family-focused reinvestment, Centre for Welfare Reform
Links: Paper | Summary | Birmingham University press release
Date: 2011-Mar
A new book examined changes in criminal justice in England and Wales over the previous two decades, and the possibilities and pitfalls for the future. It focused on the balance between (on the one hand) the role of central government in creating and shaping the regulatory framework of criminal justice and (on the other) the potential for local communities to exercise more responsibility in responding to crime and anti-social behaviour.
Source: Katherine Doolin, John Child, John Raine, and Anthony Beech (eds.), Whose Criminal Justice? State or Community?, Waterside Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Feb
A report by a committee of peers examined the implementation of the European Union's 'Stockholm Programme' on freedom, security, and justice (2010-2014).
Source: Implementing the Stockholm Programme: Home Affairs, 9th Report (Session 2010-11), HL 90, House of Lords European Union Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Feb
A think-tank paper said that the European Union Internal Security Strategy (published in November 2010) was not based on shared common concerns in all member states, and was not based on independent and objective evidence.
Source: Elspeth Guild and Sergio Carrera, Towards an Internal (In)security Strategy for the EU?, Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jan
A report examined what happened under the former Labour government (1997-2010) in key areas of criminal justice, and the use the government made of criminal statistics and the 'evidence base'.
Source: Arianna Silvestri (ed.), Lessons for the Coalition: An end of term report on New Labour and criminal justice, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (King's College London)
Links: Report | CCJS press release
Date: 2011-Jan